The Antioch Bridge, connecting Contra Costa and Solano counties,
needs about $313 million in retrofitting.

By Denis Cuff
Contra Costa Times

Tolls on seven state bridges in the Bay Area should be raised to $5
per car and car pool drivers should lose their free ride because the
Antioch and Dumbarton bridges need $950 million in improvements to
protect against earthquakes, regional bridge operators said Tuesday.

Exactly when, how and who would raise the tolls is yet to be worked
out, but bridge experts suggested extra money may be needed in time
to start retrofits on the two bridges in mid-2010.

The Antioch Bridge between Contra Costa and Solano counties needs
about $313 million in strengthening, and the Dumbarton Bridge
connecting Alameda and San Mateo counties needs about $637 million,
according to a three-year joint study released Wednesday by the Bay
Area Toll Authority and Caltrans.

"There is never a good time to be starting the conversation about a
toll increase ... especially in a recession," Steve Heminger,
executive director of the toll authority told his board in a meeting
in Oakland. "But we need to protect the safety of the people using
our bridges."

The two bridges are the newest ones in the Bay Area, but a review of
the latest information on earthquakes has shown both structures are
vulnerable in an earthquake-prone region, said Rick Land, Caltrans
chief engineer.

To protect the structures, Caltrans would install bearings to act
as shock absorbers, allowing the bridge roadway and the support
structure to move in opposite directions during an earthquake.

Caltrans also recommends strengthening the superstructure of each
bridge.

Contracts for the seismic retrofits might be awarded in 2010 and the
work finished in 2012 on the smaller Antioch Bridge, and 2013 on the
Dumbarton Bridge.

Land and Heminger said the retrofit cost estimates were preliminary
and will become firmer when Caltrans completes design work.

The seismic work was not the only reason to consider the increases,
Heminger and others at the bridge authority said.

Toll money -- the mother's milk of bridge improvements -- has fallen
by $30 million a year from expectations because of an unprecedented
five-year decline in traffic on the seven state-operated bridges. An
independent agency runs the Golden Gate. At the same time, car pools
that cross the bridge free have increased rapidly, as have the number
of BART riders going under the Bay instead of driving over it.

While transit officials say they are happy to have more car pools
and BART riders, the trend has slashed toll revenue available for
retrofits.

The economic downtown and national credit crisis also has increased
interest rates the Toll Authority pays on its debts, Heminger said.
Toll authority managers recommended three options for toll increases,
each raising the basic auto toll from $4 to $5 but proposing
different tolls for car pools and multi-axle trucks. The options are: